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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. wound — an injury
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. club — for dancing
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. tear — to rip
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. club — a group
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. cap — a lid
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. cap — of ice
  17. wound — an injury
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. club — for golf
  20. mine — for digging
  21. tear — from crying
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mine — belonging to me

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com